Text of House's Measure to Protect the Flag

Following is the text of the bill approved by the House of Representatives today to outlaw the burning or mutilation of the American flag: A BILL

To amend section 700 of title 18, United States Code, to protect the physical integrity of the flag.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. SECTION 1. Short Title This act may be cited as the ''Flag Protection Act of 1989.'' SECTION 2. Criminal penalties with respect to the physical integrity of the United States flag. (a) In General. - Subsection (a) of section 700 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: ''(a)(1) Whoever knowingly mutilates, defaces, burns, or tramples upon any flag of the United States shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both. ''(2) This subsection does not pro hibit any conduct consisting of the disposal of a flag when it has become worn or soiled.'' (b) Definition. - Section 700(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: ''(b) As used in this section, the term 'flag of the United States' means any flag of the United States, or any part thereof, made of any substance, of any size, in a form that is commonly displayed.'' SECTION 3. Expedited Review of Constitutional Issues. Section 700 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ''(d)(1) If the question of constitutionality of this section, under the first article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States, is properly presented in any case before a United States district court, that court shall, if the Supreme Court of the United States has not previously ruled on that question, immediately certify that question to the Supreme Court. ''(2) The Supreme Court shall, if it has not previously ruled on that question, accept jurisdiction over the certified question and advance on the docket and expedite to the greatest extent possible the disposition of that question. The Supreme Court may, with respect to such question, give binding instructions or require the entire record to be sent up for decision of the entire matter in controversy. ''(3) The clerk of the Supreme Court shall promptly notify the clerk of the House of Representatives and the secretary of the Senate of the receipt of such certification, and each house of Congress shall have the right to intervene in the case for the purpose of defending the constitutionality of this section.''

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A version of this article appears in print on September 13, 1989, on Page A00027 of the National edition with the headline: Text of House's Measure to Protect the Flag. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe